Abstract Crack in polymer bonded explosive (PBX) components will influence the safety and reliability of weapon system. In order to accurately simulate the quasi-static fracture behavior of PBX components, the quasi-static arc Brazilian experiment of PBX explosive was carried out first. Then, the phase field method (PFM) and the traditional extended finite element method (XFEM) are used for the comparative simulation of the arc Brazil test process, in which both the maximum principal stress and the maximum princip…